An Experiment
by StargazerXXII
Summary: One night, Sakura Matou has an idea. It seems difficult, impossible even, but she'll try it if it will give something back to her Servant as thanks for everything she's done for her.
1. Chapter 1

**_AN_**

 **I mostly write for myself, so none of this has been pre-read or checked by anyone else. Any criticisms or suggestions are welcome, and chapters will always be open to modification and editing, if justified.**

 ** _/AN_**

The sunset over Fuyuki City was always a wonderful sight. Rider would know, considering she had made a habit of watching it every evening. As much as she hated the Matou house, and most of its residents, she had to admit that its roof gave a stunning view of the vibrant pinks and golds the sky turned, taking her breath away every time. She was never quite sure if it was the sight itself, or the fact that it meant she had survived long enough to see the next day through, but it held a special place to her.

Either way, it stole enough of her attention to be surprised when she was no longer alone, a small weight on her shoulder the first thing she noticed.

"It's a lovely sight, isn't it?"

That was enough to remind her of one very important fact.

She could see.

Forcing down curses, she squeezed her eyes shut, quickly reaching for the mask she'd left on the roof next to her, but her hand was stopped by another.

"Sakura, you know I need that."

"No."

Rider could comfortably say she wasn't easily taken aback, but hearing such authority from the small girl left her speechless. It wasn't as if she were physically restrained, though. On the contrary, the hand holding hers in place was mere suggestion compared to her strength. It would be a trivial matter to forcibly remove it amd replace the cover back where it belonged. But something else was stopping her.

"I won't let you." Rider could hear a mixture of emotions in that voice, but the tone remained one of command despite it all. "I like seeing your whole face."

With a start, Rider realised that her Master had made her way in front of her, and the only thing between her and petrification was her own eyelids. Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, something else began to dawn on her. "I..."

"I mean it, Rider." She could feel the proximity between them now. It made the air around her thick, and gave her chills. Time seemed to stop.

"You're beautiful."

Like that, the spell was broken. Her hand was released. That tone was gone. A few mumbled apologies could be heard receding away back in through the window and into the house. Rider flopped backwards, lying with her head over the peak of the roof, and sighed, replacing her mask over her eyes, finally relaxing them.

The chills never left her.

 ** _{{Time passes}}_**

The sound of music from inside was what moved Rider from her rest. The familiar scratch of the needle accenting the warm voices perfectly. She had been fascinated with the gramophone ever since she'd first heard it, and a long conversation, a few promises, and a few too many yen later, it had accompanied her home, along with various records of the so-called 'barbershop' that had captured her ears in the first place. Entering through the window, she found that the scratching sound of pencil on paper was present too, along with the soft humming of the artist.

 _Some day, when I'm awfully low..._

The words were all in English, but Sakura held the tune well, blending so wonderfully with the recording that Rider could have sworn her voice was already present on the disc.

 _When the world is cold..._

She sat down on the bed, letting the sounds wash over her, and picked up one of the lower voices in accompaniment, loving how their voices danced together in the air.

 _I will feel a glow, just thinking of you..._

It was a small island of peace amid their tumultuous lives. Their island of peace. And she was grateful for it.

 _And the way you look tonight._

The scratching of the pencil faltered, almost imperceptibly at that line, its own carbon lines surely jagged on the paper for a moment, before resuming its smooth, unbroken tracing. Rider suppressed the urge to remove her mask and see for herself what it was etching. Sakura's artwork had always been something to behold, and to see it be created was surely a wondrous experience. Instead, she focused intently on the sound and feel of its sliding along the paper, trying to gain some insight into the shapes being marked on its surface.

 _You're lovely, with your smile so warm..._

It sounded like the same thing repeated over and over. That much was clear. Almost like letters, or symbols, all showing the same idea. Perfectly identical, in fact.

 _And your cheek so soft..._

They didn't sound like any kanji she recognised though. One stroke each, three in total, they were no Japanese characters she knew at all. Foreign, perhaps? She was not to be defeated by such a small challenge though.

 _There is nothing for me but to love you..._

The lines slowed again, and this time it gave her the chance she needed. They were Latin characters. 'S' and 'M'.

'Her initials', she thought to herself. 'But why would she be doing that? And what's the third character?'

 _Just the way you look tonight..._

"Sakura? What are you drawing?" A small 'eep' and the sound of scattering paper was her only reply. Then it clicked. " Something... Private, I take it?" She usually hadn't the heart to tease her about this sort of thing, but she felt that this one time she deserved the chance.

" N-no, it's nothing," Sakura hurriedly responded, "Nothing at all. Don't mind me."

"So that heart you keep drawing around everything," Rider smirked, "That's nothing too then?"

"How did you know that?" The embarrassment in her voice was painfully clear now, if it wasn't already before.

"When you go through the world without your sight, you pick up a few skills. Let's just put it that way."

"Oh. Yeah." Satisfied with her progress and newfound knowledge, Rider was left surprised yet again by Sakura's next words. "Could... Could you teach me?"

"Could I... What?"

"I mean, you do everything without seeing anything, and you're still better at it all than me. So, could you teach me to do things without sight? If, if you don't mind, that is..."

"I..." Speechless once again, Rider swore some sort of magic was at work on her voice.

"No, never mind... It was a stupid question anyway..."

"Yes."

"No, it- Wait, really?"

"Yes. Really. It'll be ha-" Rider was interrupted by a sudden hug.

"Thank you Rider."

"Of course, Sakura. You are my Master after all."

"Oh, yeah. Of course." She pulled back a little, the excitement from moments before fading. Rider caught her mistake.

"But you're my friend too, and I'd do it for you anyway." The hug tightened again. "Now, before we begin, you'll need a blindfold."

 ** _AN_**

 **If anyone's interested, this is the song they were listening to:**

https/youtu.be/OkGDa4xVSb8

 ** _/AN_**


	2. Chapter 2

"Now, can you point at me Sakura?"

White cloth firmly wrapped around her head, blocking her eyesight completely, Sakura confidently raised her arm just slightly in the wrong direction.

"That's pretty good. Can you make your way over here without hitting anything?"

Over the past half an hour, an obstacle course of books, pillows, chairs, and anything else they could find had been constructed in Sakura's room, and the girl had been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to reach her teacher without incident. By now, she could identify by touch most of the obstacles in her way, and safely navigate around them, but she would always be tripped by a rogue pillow, or catch her side on a particularly wide piece of furniture.

This time though, she confidently made her way around everything in her path, and reached the other side of the room, which contained a suspiciously empty space.

"But where am I, Sakura?"

Not content to be defeated, Sakura followed the sound of Rider's voice and (admittedly exaggerated) breathing over to her right, up onto something soft, and right to her.

"Did I do it?" She asked hesitantly, not quite believing her success.

"Yes, you did. Well done."

She reached up, and poked where she felt Rider's nose would be. "Boop."

A small sound something like a squeak came out, but was quickly hidden. "Yes, well, that was only the first thing to do. You've got a long way to go yet."

Sakura heard it anyway, and immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry. I was aiming for your nose. Did I miss?"

"Um... You could say that..." She could feel herself go red, and she was sure she could feel the same heat from the Servant next to her.

"Maybe we should stop for today. It was fun though. Thank you." Sakura reached up to untie her blindfold, but her hands were stopped before they could get close.

"Wait! I've got my mask off still."

Sakura paused. "You took it off again?"

"Well, I had to be able to see if you were going the right way, and it's easier if I've got my eyes to see instead of-"

Sakura cut her off with a finger to the lips, her aim true this time. "Shh. We both know that's an excuse. But I'll keep this blindfold on, if you keep your mask off for a while. Deal?"

"But..."

"If Nee-san comes in, you can turn him to stone."

"Deal." Rider said, a little too suddenly. Then they both broke out laughing, the previous awkwardness dispelled.

"Rider, what time is it?"

"A little past midnight."

"Ok." Sakura flopped backwards onto the bed. "Do you want to play a game?"

"What game did you have in mind?"

"Truth or Dare."

"What's that?"

"Well, you take turns asking each other questions or daring each other to do something. It's easier to just show you than explain it."

"Ok then."

"Truth or dare? Now you pick one."

"Um, truth? "

"Ok, what colour are your eyes?"

Rider turned a little red again, but answered as truthfully as she could. "They're grey. Well, greyish. Maybe a bit purple. I'm not really sure."

"What do you mean?"

"You've had your question. It's my turn now, right? So, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who are you interested in?"

It was Sakura's turn to go red. "You mean romantically? Well, Senpai of course. Why even ask?" She said, a little too hurriedly, subconsciously shifting her hair.

"Oh, no reason. I should have known really." Rider sighed. She knew her Master's 'I'm not lying, I'm just not telling the whole truth' voice when she heard it, but she wasn't about to pry now. If it was a secret, so be it.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare. We've not had one yet."

"Hmm... I don't know if this counts as breaking the rules, but... Tell me something you've never told anybody else, but in another language so I don't understand."

"I'm not sure myself, but if you'll wait a moment, I'll see if my Greek hasn't gotten rusty."

"It's ok, tell me when you're ready. Or tell me if you don't want to. It's fine." The last words were lost in a yawn, but the meaning was there.

Really, what Rider wanted was a chance to prepare herself for what she wanted to say. Even if she were to have never spoken before, the Grail's strange powers had given her fluency in every living language on the planet, and some of the dead ones to boot.

After a few minutes of deep breaths, and internal assurances that she wouldn't understand a word spoken to her, she turned to Sakura once more, only to find her breathing slow and steady, and her body limp with sleep.

Reassured by another layer of security, she bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Σ'αγαπώ, Σάκουρα."

Rider quickly found her own eyelids growing heavy, and suddenly the idea of a quick nap here, next to her Master, didn't sound so bad at all. After all, it would only be a short one.

She slept peacefully for the first night in a long time.

 _ **{{Time Passes}}**_

Sakura woke confused. In bed, blindfolded, and with someone up against her, she had every right to be. She moved to free her vision, but quickly found her hands restricted by an arm around her. Just as she was about to panic, she heard a voice from next to her.

"Χαριτωμένο φίδι..."

Then she remembered the previous night. They must have fallen asleep during their game. It was Rider next to her, not a stranger. Rider was lying in her bed, holding her like a teddy bear.

To say Sakura went red would be an understatement.

After concluding that Rider must still be asleep, and wholly unaware of her own actions, she allowed herself to enjoy the sensation a little. It gave her a feeling of security to be in such a position, and it was admittedly quite comfortable. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone.

"Αυτό χτυπάει..."

Sakura suddenly found herself squeezed rather tightly, letting out a strained squeak before she could stop herself. As Rider began to wake from the noise, she silently cursed her luck, and tried in vain to stop from blushing too hard.

"Ω, καλημέρα, Σάκουρα." The look of incomprehension must have somehow outweighed the look of embarrassment on Sakura's face, as Rider seemed to notice things in what was quite possibly the wrong order. "Ανάθεμα. Good morning, Sakura. How are you?"

"Um, I-I'm f-fine. How are y-you?" She responded, trying her hardest to act like this was normal.

"Are you sure? You seem hot. Might you be ill?"

"N-no, I don't think so. It's just..." She did the best approximation of gesturing at their current position as she could, which, restricted as she was, wasn't much. However, it was apparently enough to break through her Servant's sleep-induced daze.

"Oh. Right." From the heat she could feel radiating towards her, Sakura was sure she was missing the sight of a lifetime on her Servant's face. The knowledge that it would be the last thing she'd ever see was almost not enough to stop her looking.

Rider timidly extracated herself from the bed, and replaced her mask over her eyes. She removed Sakura's blindfold before before kneeling down low in apology, head bowed. "I am sorry, Master. I know not what came over me."

Sakura sat up, inexplicably fighting down laughter. "It's ok, Rider. You seem like you slept well."

The servant frowned. "Be that as it may, I possessed no excuse for behaving in such a manner. Forgive me, Master."

Sakura audibly giggled. "Why are you talking like that?"

"I... Pardon, Master?"

"Exactly that! What's gotten into you?" Sakura was laughing properly now. "Did you think I'd be mad at you or something?"

"I..." Whatever response Rider had prepared herself for, this wasn't it.

"Fine, have it your way." Somehow, Sakura brought her laughter under control, and made a serious face, taking a deep breath. _"Medusa! Apologise at once for being such an incredible fool and get the hell back in bed!"_

The shade of Rider's cheeks would have made a tomato jealous, as Sakura exploded in laughter once more.

"Oh you should see the look on your face, Rider," she managed through her convulsions, "It's priceless. God I needed that."

While it pleased Rider immensely to see her Master so full of joy, and openly so, she couldn't help but feel like an idiot. Of course she wouldn't be mad, what was she thinking?

"Really though, you should lie down again. It's still early, and I don't think either of us are entirely awake yet." The embarrassed Servant made her way gingerly back onto the bed, acknowledging all of Sakura's observations as accurate. Safe in the knowledge that the touch barrier had been well and truly broken, said observer gave her hand a small squeeze of reassurance. "It's ok. You've done nothing wrong, I promise."

Fighting the blood down from her cheeks, she signed in a mixture of contentment and relief. "Thank you, Sakura. It's more than I deserve."

"Oh shush you. Go back to sleep."

 _ **AN**_

 **Well, that got away from me. I hope at least some of this is semi-coherent. And if anyone's wondering, yes, that's Greek that Rider is accidentally speaking, and no, I won't translate for you. Αφέθηκε ως άσκηση στον αναγνώστη.**

 _ **/AN**_


End file.
